Truth in the Stones - Daryl Dixon AU -
by AndyTheAwesome
Summary: Now that the world has gone to shit, people now have to defend themselves against flesh-eating creatures. Cheyenne is the niece of former King County deputy Shane Walsh and when the infection spread, her and her brother -Jeremy - were saved by their uncle. Now, the pair have to learn how to survive with their group but what happens when love starts to bloom in a world like this?
1. Chapter 1

_"Man, this shits crazy."_

_"Don't swear, Jer. There are kids around here."_

_"Please, swearing while kids are around are least bit of our troubles."_  
_  
We were stuck, waiting, for the block to clear up. The turn - as the Georgians had called it - was currently happening. Everyone in the state was trying to enter Atlanta, where the refugee center was located at. I voted against it. It was just going to bring all the food to one place but one man's vote against four wasn't really made for democracy. I looked behind me, spotting Lori and Shane walk off into the woods after a fight had broke out. I mentally rolled my eyes, trying not to show my irritability. I knew that they had hooked up before behind a bush which I thought was utterly disgusting. I hadn't known her or Carl for long - in fact, I hadn't known them at all until about two days ago. I knew I couldn't judge her but her husband had just died and she had moved on faster than you can imagine._

"Holy shit."

The bombs echoed through the streets as they hit the city. I looked in horror as did everyone else that the once beautiful city of Atlanta was now being destroyed into pieces. 

Present Time 

"Hey, you alive in there?" Glenn asked through the walkie-talkie after only hearing static.

We had just witnessed a man enter an army tank after being overrun by walkers. Glenn had somehow convinced me to help him but I was starting to regret that decision. If he was even alive, why would we be out here risking our lives for some douchebag we didn't even know?

An exasperated voice replied. "Hello? Hello?"

Glenn sighed in relief. "Oh there you are. You had me wondering."

"Where are you? Are you outside? Can you see my right now?"

"Yeah, we can see you. You're surrounded by walkers." I peered over the side of building, spotting only the dead. But what was I expecting to see? Hundreds of military men shooting walkers one-by-one and bringing us to safety? I highly doubt that'll happen.

"We? There's two of you?" I rolled my eyes and signaled for Glenn to keep talking.

"That's not important right now. You got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the _feeding frenzy_ where the horse went down. You with me so far?"

"So far."

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Then jump off the right side of the tank and keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street maybe fifty yards - be there." Glenn instructed.

"Hey, what are your names?" I rolled my eyes and grabbed the small device out of Glenn's hands.

"Have you been listening? You're running out of time!" I exclaimed.

"C'mon, we gotta hurry!" Glenn commanded as we slid down the ladder.

While running towards the alley, gun shots could be heard for miles around and I started to think about the dangers his actions could cost us. We reached the gate where we finally met the mystery man - a gun pointed to Glenn's face. Once he realized we weren't dead, we all began running in the other direction towards the fire escape. I didn't bother turning around and I reached the ladder first, climbing up as fast as I could. The man was still shooting at walkers until Glenn yelled at him to stop. I moved over to the farthest side of the ledge, giving Glenn and the man room to stand beside me. I rested my hands on the cold metal bars, leaning over and catching my breath. I looked down, getting a good view of the walkers below us. The adrenaline rushed through my veins as I glanced over at Glenn and then to the mystery man.

"Nice moves there Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff? Riding in to clean up the town?" Glenn asked sarcastically, still catching his breath.

"Wasn't my intention." The man admitted.

I exhaled a deep breath. "Yeah, whatever, yee-haw. You're still a dumbass."

The man acknowledged me and stook his hand out to me. "Rick."

I looked at his hand and then hastily shook it. "Cheyenne."

He then turned to Glenn shaking his hand as well. "Thanks."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't be thanking us yet." I stared up at the rest of the ladder, shielding my eyes from the blinding sun.

I glanced over at Glenn before glancing up at the ladder again, nodding my head - agreeing we had no other choice but to climb up.

"On the bright side, it'll be the fall that kills us." Glenn commented. "I'm a 'glass half-full' kinda guy."

He let me climb up first, him and Rick trailing behind me. I could still hear the snarling of the dead as we jogged to the roof entrance.

"You the ones who barricaded the alley?" Rick asked.

"Somebody did, I guess when the city got overrun. Whoever did it was thinking. Not many geeks get through." Glenn replied.

When we reached the roof entrance, I quickly unhitched the lock and the rusty metal doors squeaked as they opened.

"Back at the tank, why did you both stick your necks out for me?"

Glenn threw his backpack down the entrance. "Call it foolish, naive hope; that if were ever that far up the shit creek, somebody might do the same for us."

"Guess that makes us even bigger dumbasses than you." I added, climbing my way down.

Rick copied our actions - shutting the doors and jumping down the rest of the way. We ran through a unfastidious room until we reached the exit door - meeting with a set of gray, metal steps.

"I'm back, got a guest. There's four geeks in the alley." Glenn breathed his words into the walkie talkie.

I came to a sudden stop, grabbing the attention of two walkers who were in the alley. Glenn and Rick stopped behind me as well, backing up a few steps as the walkers came closer. The door of the other building opened and, who I'm guessing was T-Dog and Morales, came out in their black protective suits with bats and began beating the walkers down. We took this as an opportunity to run to the door, Morales and T-Dog trailing behind.

As soon as we entered the room, Andrea grabbed Rick by the shirt and pushed him harshly against a pile of crates.

Andrea pointed a gun in Rick's face. "Son of a bitch! We outta kill you!"

I stood beside Glenn as we watched the scene in front of us unfold. "Just chill out Andrea. Back off." Morales commanded.

"C'mon, ease up." Jacqui added.

Andrea narrowed her eyes and the grip on her gun became tighter "Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole."

"Andrea, I said back the hell off." Morales repeated. "Or pull the trigger."

Andrea did as Morales told her and took a few steps back.

"We're dead. All of us - because of you." She choked, tears welling in her eyes.

"I don't understand."

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge for supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving." Morales said as he grabbed Rick by the arm, leading him into the next room - the rest of us following. "You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out not shooting up the streets like you have."

"Every geek for miles heard you popping off rounds." T-Dog added.

"You just rang the dinner bell."

**Hey, so this is my first story ever and well - I hope I did well. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"The hell were you doing out there anyway?" Andrea asked Rick.

We watched as the walkers banged on the door - one even had a rock and was using it towards it leverage.

"Trying to flag the helicopter." Rick replied.

"Helicopter? Man, that's crap. There wasn' no damn helicopter." T-Dog exclaimed.

"You were chasing a hallucination - an imagination, it happens." Jacqui explained.

"I saw it." Rick was standing his ground but I highly doubt anyone would believe him - not in this situation.

"Hey T-Dog, try that CB." Morales told T-Dog.

He immediately began fiddling with the knobs, receiving only static.

"Can you contact the others?"

"Others? The refugee center." Rick questioned.

"Yeah, the refugee center. They've got biscuits waiting in the oven for us." I answered sarcastically.

"Got no signal." T-Dog informed us. "Maybe the roof?"

But once those words left his mouth, gunshots were heard from that direction.

"Oh no. Was that Dixon?" Andrea asked more as a statement.

I groaned as we all ran in the direction of the steps leading us to the roof. We all ran up the spiral steps, Morales busting through the door and we were met with the face of Merle Dixon.

"Hey Dixon, are you crazy?!" Morales shouted but Merle simply laughed in response as he fired another shot.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You're just attracting more of them!" I yelled.

Merle turned around at my voice and began chuckling again. "Hey, you both outta be more polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense."

T-Dog jumped down from the ledge angrily. "Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got. You're gonna bring more of them things down here on our ass man. Just chill."

Merle walked closer towards T-Dog, still clutching his shotgun. "You think I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so bro - that'll be the day."

T-Dog frowned and narrowed his eyes at Merle. "That'll be the day? You got something you wanna tell me?"

Morales tried to make peace between them but his attempt wasn't even acknowledged. Rick looked over at me as if he wanted to know if any of us were going to say anything. I shook my head in response. It was never good to get in anyone's 'affairs' in the camp especially when it had to do with Merle or his brother.

"You wanna know the day?" Merle asked.

T-Dog nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll tell ya the day, Mr. Yo, it's the day I take orders from a nigger."

T-Dog lunged at Merle, throwing a punch but Merle retorted by hitting in the face with the back of his shotgun. A fight broke out and Rick tried to intervene but was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by Merle. Everyone began shouting at Merle to stop and even Morales tried to help but was hit in the stomach by Merle. I helped Rick recover from his fall and pulled him up from off the ground. By now, T-Dog was on the ground and being beaten up by Merle. Dixon finally pulled out a gun a pointed it in T-Dog's face. T-Dog just lay there and waited for Merle's next move. Andrea started pleading with Merle not to do it as he held the gun firmly in his hands. He looked at us all, one by one, and then spit on T-Dog - rubbing it in his shirt.

Merle stood up proudly after the ass-beating he had just given T-Dog. "Alright, we gonna have ourselves a pow-wow now, huh? Who's in charge? I vote me."

We all aided T-Dog and pulled him away from Merle as Jacqui began patting T-Dog's head with a cloth.

"Show of hands, ya'll. All in favor."

Morales was the first one to put his hand up and I groaned as he gave up so easily. Andrea, Jacqui and Glenn raised their hands in hesitation moments after and I reluctantly raised my hand - not wanting to aggravate Merle more.

"Yeah, that means I'm the boss, right? Anybody else? Huh? Anybody?" Merle asked.

"Yeah." Rick appeared behind Merle and hit in in the face with Merle's own gun. He took out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed one on Merle's wrist and the other on a pipe.

Merle struggled to get loose from the handcuffs grip. "Who the hell are you man?"

"Officer friendly." Rick responded sarcastically. "Look here, Merle, things are different now. There are no 'niggers' anymore, no more dumb as shit, white trash inbred fool either - only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

"Screw you man."

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point."

"Yeah? Well screw you twice."

Rick had a look of annoyance on his face as he pointed his gun at Merle's head. "You outta be more polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense."

Our heavy breathing was the only audible noise with the exception of the dead and Rick held his gun on Merle's temple.

"You wouldn't. You're a cop."

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anyone in the way of that's gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that." Rick began searching for Merle for any weapons but instead found a little pouch with what I presume was some substance of a drug. "Got some on your nose there." Rick teased as he flicked his nose.

"What are you gonna do? Arrest me?" Merle chuckled but his laughter soon died out when Rick threw his 'source' out onto the streets of the city.

Merle began struggling against the handcuffs again. "Hey! What are you doing man?! That's my stuff! If I get loose, you better pray!"

Rick ignored him as Merle continued to yell. "We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out."

Morales flashed a light on the sewer tunnel below. "This is it? You sure?"

Glenn, Andrea, Rick, Morales, Jacqui, and I were in the buildings basement looking for a way out through the sewers.

"I've really scoped out this place the other times I was here. It's the only thing in the building that goes down." I said as I lite the sewer with my flashlight. "But I've never gone down it."

"Who would want to right?" Glenn chuckled nervously.

I glared at Glenn for ratting us out. Everyone knew me and Glenn were the ones who went on runs the most and we were pretty handy with sneaking in and out. Everyone looked over to Glenn and then to me and I sighed.

"Oh. Great." Glenn said grimly, realizing they wanted us to go down there.

"We'll be right behind you guys." Andrea reassured us.

"No you won't. Not you."

"Why not me? Think I can't?"

"I wasn't-" Glenn stuttered.

"Speak your mind." Rick told Glenn.

I rolled my eyes. "Look, until now, me and Glenn were the only ones who came here - in and out - grab a few things and no problem. The first time we bring a full group, everything goes to hell. If you want to go down this black hole, fine. But only if we do it our way. It's tight down there. If I'm running from something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me and getting me killed. Rick, you've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors and covering our ass."

"You've got the only other gun so you should go with him." I said to Andrea. "Jacqui, you and Morales stay up here. If something happens, yell down to us and get us back up here in a hurry."

Rick patted Glenn's shoulder. "Okay, everybody know's there jobs."

I put the flashlight in my mouth to have free hands and began climbing down the ladder - Glenn copying my actions. I got to the bottom and I could feel the milky brown water soak into my shoes. I signaled for Glenn to go first but he shook his head.

He smiled nervously. "No you go first. I'll protect you from behind."

I rolled my eyes and began walking through the dark tunnel. A mouse squeaked loudly and Glenn cringed and squealed. I rolled my eyes again and pushed the mouse carefully to the side with my shoe. We opened another door which lead through the same tunnel.

"Yeah, we got ourselves a sewer tunnel." I commented after finding a small gate that probably lead to the outside. We both shined our flashlights on it, trying inspect it.

Glenn looked towards me. "Can we cut through it?"

"If we had a blow torch. Sure. Dale's hacksaw sure as hell won't do it."

We heard a 'squishy' sound and we both shone our lights on it - finding a walker feeding on something. It groaned and reached out to us through the gates and we backed up, frightened.

It continued snarling at us and I could see the remains of a mouse in it's hands.


	3. Chapter 3

Rick looked over the roof ledge through binoculars. "That construction site, those trucks, they always keep keys on hand."

Rick handed Morales his binoculars and he looked through them then back down to the walkers. "We'll never make it past the walkers."

Rick looked over at me and Glenn. "You guys got me out of that tank."

Glenn sighed. "Yeah but they were feeding. They were distracted."

"Can't we distract them again?"

"He's on to something. " Merle commented from his spot by the pipe causing all of us to turn and face him. "A diversion."

Rick ignored Merle completely. "They're drawn by sound, right?"

I nodded. "Right - like dogs. They hear sound, they come."

"What else?"

"Aside from they hear you? They see you, they smell you, and if they catch you, they eat you." Morales said.

"They can tell us by smell?"

"Can't you? They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea explained. We all stood silent for a moment before Rick spoke.

"I've got an idea."

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn mumbled as Rick handed him a pair of gloves.

Morales nodded. "He's right. Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through."

Rick threw a trench coat at Glenn. "How much time? They already got through one set of doors. That glass won't hold up forever."

Morales and Rick went out into the alley, picking up one of the walkers they had beat up earlier and dragged it into the room. Rick sighed as he slid the protective plastic over his face. He used a crowbar and broke the glass in which an axe was in. We all stood in silence and I glance up at Rick, waiting for him to make a move.

The plan was basically to chop a walker up, get it's guts, and smear it all over us. I wasn't looking forward to what was going to happen next. I took a step back as Rick lifted his axe and proceeded to chop up the walker. Everyone cringed at the sight but I stood still, my eyes fixed on the walker. Sure it was pretty disgusting but I couldn't help but think that before all this, that used to be a person. He used to worry about paying the bills and everyday problems like us. But now he's just another one of those lifeless, monsters that are roaming the earth now. I suddenly felt the wretched smell burn my nostrils and and I covered my nose in disgust. Rick passed Morales the axe and ordered him to take over the job. Morales hastily grabbed the mask and lifted up the axe to chop up the walker as well.

Glenn bent over and groaned. "Oh god I'm gonna hurl."

Morales chopped up the walker a bit more before Rick told us to grab some of the walkers insides and begin getting to work. Rick began smearing it on himself - Jacqui and Morales helping him while Andrea and I helped Glenn. I grabbed one of walker's intestines and draped it over Glenn's shoulder.

"Oh it's bad. It's really bad." Glenn whined as he closed his eyes in disgust.

"Think about something else." I suggested. "Like puppies and kittens."

"_Dead _puppies and kittens." T-Dog muttered from beside Rick.

That was too much for Glenn to handle and he bent over and threw up.

Andrea narrowed her eyes at T-Dog. "That is just evil. What is wrong with you?"

"Next time, let the cracker beat his ass." Jacqui hissed.

"I'm sorry." T-Dog mumbled.

"Do we smell like them?" Rick asked.

I nodded my head, my nose scrunched up in disgust. "Oh yeah."

"Glenn," Andrea handed her gun to him, "Just in case."

She awkwardly lifted Glenn's coat and tucked it in the waistband of his jeans.

"If we make it back, be ready." Rick told us.

T-Dog had a look of disgust on his face. "What about Merle Dixon?"

Rick dug in his pocket before pulling out a small golden key and handing it to T-Dog. T-Dog nodded, knowing that was the key to the handcuffs.

Rick looked to Morales. "Give me that axe. We need more guts."

-

We all - except for Rick and Glenn - came running through the roof door and toward the roof ledge.

"Hey, what's happening?" Merle asked but we all ignored him.

"T-Dog, try that CB." Morales commanded.

"Hey c'mon, talk to me y'all."

I stood beside Andrea as I peered over the ledge.

"This is T-Dog. Anybody hear me? Can anybody out there hear me?"

Morales had a pair of binoculars and was looking down at the walkers before spotting Rick and Glenn. He pointed his finger in their direction. "There."

I looked up at the sky after hearing a small roar of thunder.

"That asshole's on the street with them handcuff keys?"

I turned around and saw T-Dog waving the golden key in his hands, shutting Merle up.

"Shane is that you?"

We all turned to look at T-Dog, hoping we had gotten in connection with the rest of our group. "We're trapped in the department store. Geeks are all over the place - hundreds of them. We're surrounded."

After a couple of seconds, we lost the connection. I rolled my eyes at the situation we were in but there's was nothing that could be done about it except fight our way out. Suddenly, I felt a water droplet drop on my hand and I groaned, knowing what was about to happen. The rain instantly began pouring down and I knew Rick and Glenn were in trouble.

Morales looked up to the sky, worried. "If they get there on time they might make it. It's a quick pass."

I glanced at Jacqui worriedly as I bit my lip. It would be a miracle if Rick and Glenn wouldn't be unspotted and that worried me. I loved Glenn as a friend and Rick would probably become a very valuable member to our group. It would be terrible if they didn't make it.

"C'mon, c'mo, c'mon." Morales encouraged Rick and Glenn as they ran though the walker crowd, killing every other one that came close by.

I witnessed them in the crowd - jumping the gates. I could see Rick and Glenn running around, trying to find a way to get out of the situation. We saw them getting into a truck driving fastly in the other direction as the walkers overpowered the gate, knocking it down. By now, the rain had stopped and we were all surprised by their actions.

"Their leaving us." Andrea stated.

I laughed nervously. "No. No they can't be. They must...be trying to find a way back to us without having to go through that herd."

Andrea glanced at me unsure as everyone continued to deny the fact that they were leaving us. After a couple minutes of desperation, we noticed the truck coming back and heard the loud screech of a car followed by the car alarm. We finally realized they were here and picked up all our stuff and ran towards the door. I heard Merle yelling something at us but I couldn't think or stop right now.

The most important thing to me was getting out alive. Andrea began yelling at Morales to come on as he trailed by the door. I didn't stop for a second as I ran down the stairs behind Jacqui. Andrea and Morales soon were behind us and we ran through another door, leading to the garage. I grabbed the metal chain to open the garage as did Andrea and Jacqui. We waited for Rick to give us a signal before we began pulling the chain rapidly. Andrea and T-Dog began throwing everything in the truck and we all hurried into the truck, closing the door before the walkers could get to us. I stood in the corner of the truck, breathing heavily. Everyone around was trying to catch their breathe after our adrenaline packed experience.

We all looked toward T-Dog, noticing Merle wasn't in the truck. "I dropped the damn key."

We all stayed quiet before Andrea broke the silence. "Where's Glenn?"

At that moment, he questioned was answered as the sound of a car alarm was heard again - the car driving past us with Glenn screaming in excitement.

I smiled slightly, knowing at least someone was having fun.


	4. Chapter 4

We arrived at the camp minutes later and I immediately left the truck and ran into the arms of my brother, Jeremy, much like Andrea did with Amy. I hugged him tightly as I felt the warmth of his brown sweater seep into my skin. I glanced up at Shane, sending him a smile which he returned.

"Hey helicopter boy, come say hello!" Morales yelled towards Rick.

I smiled at the nickname Morales had given him.

"Guys a cop - like you."

I saw Shane and Rick looking at each other in surprise as if they had known each other.

Carl screamed. "Dad! Dad!"

He ran into Rick's arms and Lori also came jogging up to Rick, indulging him in a hug as well. I looked towards Shane with a raised eyebrow to which he shook his head - informing me he'd tell me later. I had a lot of questions for him and I intended to ask him later. But for the moment, I smiled - feeling happy that something so joyful can happen in a world like this.

I nudged Dale in the ribs playfully. "Can't say you see miracles like everyday, can you Dale?"

He smiled, giving me a hug. "No you can't. I'm glad you made it back safely."

-

"That's Lori's husband?" I was talking to Shane behind the RV, away from everyone else. Shane nodded his head in response.

"He was your best friend in the department too, huh?"

He shook his head. "Not _was_, is."

"Shane, you slept with-"

"That's Uncle Shane." He told me sternly.

I rolled my eyes as irritability took over my face.

"You're only six years older than me. I think that whole 'Uncle' thing ended before it started."

"I don't care if I'm your same age, you're my brother's daughter and that makes you my niece. One that I promised to take care of - Jeremy too."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, was that promise made before or after he was devoured in front of our eyes?"

Shane sighed as he shifted his weight onto his other foot and put a hand on his hip. "Cheyenne, don't you dare take it there. You know I tried the best I could to protect you all. What happened with John was a mistake and I would take it back if I could but if you haven't noticed, we don't get do-overs."

"You call that a mistake? I say forgetting someone's birthday is a mistake. Some psycho taking a life isn't a mistake."

"What's going on here?" I heard a voice say behind the RV. Jeremy appeared a second later, a worried look on his face.

"Oh nothing. Just reminiscing." I smiled sarcastically before walking off, not forgetting to shoot Shane a glare.

We all sat around the campfire, listening to Rick's story. Rick told us about his waking up alone from his coma, finding the hospital overrun, and hoping it was all just a bad dream. I think we all wanted to think that at least once but we had to come back to reality sooner or later. Hoping it was a dream was just wishful thinking.

Dale spoke after a few seconds of silence. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

I mentally groaned, knowing he was right. Knowing the way Daryl was, he was going to throw a huge fit just like his brother and do something very irrational.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key - I'll tell him." T-Dog admitted.

"I cuffed him. That makes him mine." Rick argued.

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't wanna bring race into it but I think it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn reasoned.

T-Dog shook his head. "I did what I did. I'm not gonna hide from it."

"We could lie." Amy suggested.

Andrea shook her head. "We tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he could've gotten us killed."

Although, I knew Daryl would take it bad either way so I guess telling the truth would be the best way.

"And if Merle got left behind, that's nobody's fault but his."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked in disbelief. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that."

He looked at Andrea for a moment before she put her head down in defeat. "Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back."

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog admitted.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" I asked.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow, maybe half-a-dozen geeks could squeeze through there. One at a time, it's not enough to break - not that chain, not that padlock. My point is Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof."


	5. Chapter 5

"God, your shit at this." I teased as Jeremy had yet again missed the black bulls-eye I had drawn on the tree with a dry marker.

I lent him my Genesis compound to try and practice with but he failed miserably. My bow, which I had named Maya, wasn't a crossbow like Daryl's. I was an original model of a compound but mine just had a bit more gadgets on it. My father had given it to me when I was 13 - not that that really mattered.

"You should stick to guns."

"Yeah, yeah, just keep laughing. I'm gonna save your ass one day." He flung the bow string back and aimed at the mark with one eye closed. He missed again by a long shot.

"See, your problem is you close one eye. You have to keep both your eyes open."

I snatched Maya out of his hands. "Like this." I pulled back the bow string and got the mark on point.

He pursed his lips. "I'm impressed."

"You should-"

I was interrupted by screams that sounded like Sophia and Carl. I looked at Jeremy for a moment before we both began racing through the woods. We were the first one's there and I ushered Carl and Sophia towards Lori as we ran to the place they were at before. We came face-to-face with a walker to what looked like was eating the remains of a dead deer. Shane, Rick, and Glenn appeared first - circling around the walker as if in a boxing match. I heard Amy and Andrea gasp from behind us, not liking the scene in front of them. The walker seemed to have noticed us as it stood up from it's crouched position and lunged towards Rick. The walker didn't even have a chance as everyone, including Morales, Jim, and Dale, began beating it with their weapons.

I rolled my eyes and stepped back, realizing I was no longer needed. Jeremy copied my actions, not seeing his need either. They were still beating the thing as if it was still a threat. It was only one walker - they didn't need to beat it senseless. One of my arrows in the head would end it. Dale finally ended it when he decapitated the walker's head with an axe.

"That's the first one we've had up here. They never come up this far up the mountain." Dale pointed out.

Everyone was breathing heavily after what had just happened.

Jim sighed. "They've been running out of food in the city, that's what."

We suddenly heard rustling from behind and everyone turned around, weapon at stance. Shane walked up to the sound and stood the closest, his rifle ready to shoot. But instead of our expected walker appearing, Daryl came out of the bushes. Everyone sighed in relief, knowing we didn't have to deal with another walker. I scoffed at the sight of Daryl, already knowing the trouble he was gonna cause when we would tell him what happened to Merle.

"Son of a bitch." He said as he walked his way out of the bushes and tree stumps. "That's my deer. Look at it, all knawed on by this filthy, disease bearing, motherless, proxy, bastard!" He sneered as he kicked the walker's body with every word.

Dale spoke. "Calm down son. That's not helping any."

Daryl stalked angrily towards Dale. "What you know about it ol' man?!"

I stepped in front of Dale, as sort of protecting him. I knew what Daryl was capable of and I knew he wasn't afraid to hit any "old man".

He stopped in front of me, glaring at me for a moment. "You take that stupid hat and go back to 'on Golden Pond'."

He sighed as he turned around, his attention back on the deer. "Been tracking this deer for miles," He began pulling out his arrows from the deer's torso. "Was gonna drag it back to camp. What'd you think? Think we can cut around this chewed up part here?" He asked, pointing towards the area he was talking about.

Shane had a look of disgust on his face. "I would not risk that."

Daryl sighed. "It's a damn shame. Well, I got some squirrel - a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

A sound brought back my attention and I looked at the walker head and saw it's jaw begin to move.

"Oh god." Amy groaned as she and Andrea left the scene is disgust.

"C'mon people. What the hell?" Daryl reloaded his crossbow and shot the walker head straight in the eye. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?"

He pulled out his arrow out of the walkers head and began walking towards camp, bumping shoulders with me as he passed. I scoffed at his childish actions and began walking towards the camp myself, Jeremy by my side.

-

"Merle, get your ugly ass out here!" Daryl shouted to his non-existent brother.

I was ready for the hell Daryl was about to give us.

"Got us some squirrel. Let's grill em' up."

I exchanged worried glances with Jeremy before Shane spoke. "Daryl, you need to slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

He sent me a reassuring smile, which I didn't send back, as he walked towards Daryl. "Bout what?"

Shane ran a hand over his face. "Bout Merle. There was a...problem in Atlanta."

I stood next to Jeremy and Glenn and I saw Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, and Lori leaning against the RV. He looked at all of us, with a doubting look on his face. "He dead?"

Shane shook his head. "Not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!"

I looked over to Rick and gave him a look that he should say something; he nodded in agreement.

Rick walked towards Daryl. "No easy way to say it so I'll just say it."

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

_"Rick Grimes_," Daryl mocked. "You got something you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him to on a roof and hooked him on a piece of metal. He's still there."

At that moment, T-Dog appeared, wood logs stacked in his hands. Daryl walked a few steps ahead, wiping the sweat of his forehead.

"Hold on, let me process this. You say you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!?"

He looked over at me and we made eye contact as he glared at me. "I suppose you had somethin' to do with it!" He threw the line of squirrels he had caught angrily and began stalking towards me before Shane pushed him to the ground. Shane really didn't have to do that; I could've handled him myself any day. Daryl pulled out his knife, his attention on Rick now as he swiped his knife at Rick. Rick backed up and the knife missed him by inches he twisted Daryl arm back and Shane got him into a headlock.

Daryl struggled against Shane's grip. "Best let me go."

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane's grip seemed to grow tighter the more Daryl struggled.

"Chockhold's illegal."

"Yeah, well you can file a complaint."

Daryl fell to the floor on his knees, still in Shane's headlock.

Rick crouched down to Daryl's level. "I'd like to have a calm, discussion on this topic. You think you can manage that?"

"You think you can manage that?" He repeated after Daryl didn't reply.

Shane hesitated but let go of his grip on Daryl's head, shoving it to the ground roughly.

"What I did was not on the whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick explained.

T-Dog chimed in. "It's not Rick's fault. I had the key; I dropped it."

"Couldn't pick it up?"

"I dropped it in the drain." T-Dog admitted.

Daryl scoffed as he lifted himself off the ground. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well maybe this will. I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him - with a padlock."

I looked over at Jeremy before looking back at the scene before me. I actually though Daryl would take the news worse and maybe even go on a rampage. This Daryl was actually acting calm due to the situation.

Rick put his hands on his hips."That's gotta count for something."

Daryl stood there for a moment and he sniffed as he rubbed his eye, as if wiping away a tear. "To hell with all of y'all! Just tell me where he is so I can go get him."

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori said from her spot on the RV.

We all looked to Rick, awaiting his answer. "I'm going back."

Lori got a look on her face as she walked back into the RV. I could tell she didn't want her husband to go back there but knowing Rick for the short amount I have, he probably couldn't and_ wouldn't_ change his mind.

Daryl stalked off angrily somewhere, the conversation over.


	6. Chapter 6

I sat beside Carl on a rock by the lake. Rick, Glenn, Jeremy, T-Dog, and Daryl had all gone to try and get Merle back. I was told to go along, since I knew the area so well but Glenn volunteered for me as he knew the terrain as well as me. I smiled as Carl had another failed attempt of catching frogs.

"I'm not getting anything." He mumbled feeling defeated.

"Yeah, they're all willey, they sublime. They know somethin's up, somethin's going on."

Shane grabbed the bucket he was holding by the sides as he moved through his spot in the water.

"We're just gonna have to do this the ol' fashioned way, ain't that right Cheyenne?"

Carl grinned as he looked at me and I nodded in response, playing along.

"All right little man, look, you are the the key in all this, okay? All I'm gonna do is go after one of them all right? I'm gonna scare the rest of them off and they're all gonna scattered." Shane instructed.

Carl nodded thoughtfully.

"You need to round up any bad boy you see, alright?" I said to Carl, grabbing his attention. "Those little fuckers move fast and they don't wait to be caught."

Shane gave me a look for swearing but I shrugged. Sometimes, they would just slip and I would pay no mind if children were around.

"Alright." Carl exclaimed excitedly.

"You with me? Give me a mean face. Argh!" Shane made a "mean" face and Carl copied his actions as I ruffled his hair.

"You ready?"

"Yeah!"

Shane stood still for a moment and started slowly putting the bucket in the water before splashing it rapidly and he went into the lake fully, wetting himself. He splashed the water and Carl began laughing, trying his best to catch a frog. Soon after a while, Shane began splashing me on purpose. I squealed as the water hit me and Carl laughed more as Shane continued to made a fool of himself.

Shane stopped splashing to give Carl some time to check his net. "What'd ya got? What'd ya got?"

Carl looked disappointed. "Dirt."

"Oh boy. Look's like we gotta start over." Shane sighed, pretending to be disappointed as well but I could see a faint smile on his face.

We all laughed as Shane sat in the middle of us, shaking his hair like a wet dog. I could feel the sprinkles on my face and me and Carl giggled as we hid our faces.

"Carl," Lori said, appearing from out of nowhere. "What'd I tell ya about leaving Dale's sight?"

"But Shane and Cheyenne said we could catch frogs."

"It's doesn't matter what Shane - or Cheyenne - say. It matters what I say, now go on, back to camp."

She nodded her head towards the camp. Carl hastily lifted himself off the rock and sulked his way back to camp. Lori began following him but I decided to say something.

"What's your problem?" I asked a bit rudely.

Lori had been acting stranger by the minute. She was treating Carl like if he was made of glass and he needed to be protected at all times. I understand that's her kid but she didn't have to be that protective. She turned around and faced me and Shane.

"I don't have one - at least that doesn't concern you."

"Look, Cheyenne, why don't go on and see that Carl gets to the camp alright. I need to talk to Lori for a minute."

I opened my mouth to say something but Shane shot me a look telling me it was time to shut up. I looked back and forth between both of them before sighing and walking. I knew it probably had to do something with Rick coming "back to life" and the problem with Shane and Lori sleeping together - more than once I might add. I rolled my eyes at the soap-opera type drama that was still happening even in this world.

-

"Everything good?" I asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, Cheyenne." He muttered as he looked on to Lori and Carl's retracting figures.

"Had to do with the whole Rick situation, didn't it?"

He looked over at me before sighing irritably. "Look, why don't you just mind your own business - how's that?"

I scoffed at his actions, previous to others. "Typical Shane, always avoiding his problems."

Shane always seemed to sweep his problems under the rug and never look back at them until it turned into a big, ashy mess.

"How many times have I told you it's-"

"Uncle Shane. I get it."

I heard faint arguing from where the girls were doing laundry a few seconds later and Shane apparently heard it too, his head turning towards their direction. Ed was over there and it looked like he was causing trouble. After a few more bits of arguing, Ed struck Carol in the face and Shane immediately started running towards them as I trailed behind him.

When we got there, Shane grabbed Ed by his shirt and dragged a few feet away before shoving him to the ground and began beating him. I stood there, unknowing what to do. My reputation here wasn't very good and I wasn't close to anyone like everyone else. Shane continued to beat the shit out of Ed but after a couple more punches, I realized he wasn't going to stop. He was probably taking out all of his anger from the whole Lori and Rick situation out on Ed. I ran up to his side and grabbed Shane's fist before he could hit Ed again.

"Shane, stop!" I yelled, afraid he would beat him to death. His anger faded as he looked at me but he still wrenched his hand out of my grip and stared back at Ed.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else at this camp I will not stop next time, do you hear me?" Shane hissed as he grabbed Ed by face.

"I'll beat you to death, Ed." He punched Ed once more for effect.

I could hear Carol crying from behind me and Shane kicked him once more. I saw Carol run to her aid to her "husband". I looked at Shane is surprisement at what he had just done as he stalked off back to the camp.

Shane had never done this before but I had feeling this wouldn't be the last time he'd do this. 


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Jim, why don't you just hold on a second here?"

Jim had been digging for hours and he was starting to scare people. Everyone - including Shane - were around to see of Jim's intentions. I, for one, didn't really see anything wrong with what he was doing. The man was just digging but everyone was acting like he was plotting to blow up the capital - not like one still existed. Jim sighed and dug the shovel into the dirt, his face expression annoyed.

"What do you want?"

"I was just a little concerned, that's all." Shane explained.

"Dale's said you've been out here for hours." Morales added.

"So?"

"So, why you digging?" Shane asked.

"You headin' to China or something?" I joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Jim glanced at me but didn't smile. "It doesn't matter. I'm not hurtin' anyone." He said before he began digging again.

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today. You can't keep this up." Dale argued.

"Sure I can; watch me." Jim muttered, digging with a bit more force.

Stubborn bastard, this one - not that I was any different. I looked to Dale with a worried look before Lori spoke up.

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scarin' people - you're scaring my son and Carol's daughter."

"They got nothing to be scared of."

I sighed and looked to the ground, realizing this conversation was going to go nowhere.

"What the hell people? I'm just out here by myself. Why don't y'all just go and leave me the hell alone." Jim said before he began digging once more.

"We think that you need to take a break, okay? I want you to go get yourself some shade and some food. Maybe, in a little bit, I'll come out here and I'll even help you myself. Just tell me what it's about; just give me that shovel." Shane ordered, holding out his hand to receive the shovel.

"Or what?"

"There is no or what. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you - please." Shane pleaded in fear for Jim's safety.

"And if I don't, then what? Then you gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't ya? Y'all seen his face huh? What's left of it! See that's what happens when someone crosses you."

I rolled my eyes. "You weren't there. Ed was out of control; he was hurting his wife."

"That is their marriage - not his. He's not the judge and jury. Who voted you king, huh?"

"I'm not here to argue, alright? Just give me the shovel." Shane commanded, ignoring Jim's previous statement.

Jim moved the shovel out of Shane's reach as he protested. He pushed Shane away and began waving the shovel around as a way of defense but Shane got fed up and shoved Jim to the ground, handcuffing his hands behind his back.

"It's okay Jim. No one is going to hurt you."

"That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I told them that a hundred times; it didn't matter. They came out of nowhere, dozens of them. Just pulled them right out of my hands. The only real reason why I got away was because the dead were to busy eating my family." Jim muttered from his spot on the ground.

I walked away slowly back to the camp as he said that. I wasn't good with emotions and being around them wasn't the best idea.

-

The sound of my arrow could be heard as it hit the target on the tree once again.

"Cheyenne," A voice called. I looked behind me to see Andrea walking over to me, a small object in her hand.

"Yeah?"

"I hate to interrupt your whole target practice session," I chuckled at her choice of words. "But I was wondering if I could get your opinion on this."

She put a small object in the palm of my hand and my eyes grew wide as I examined the silver mermaid locket. "Wow."

"I know you're really the only person who actually likes this kinda stuff and I wanted to know if it's worthy enough to give to Amy."

I raised my eyebrows, curious to why Andrea was giving Amy a present.

"It's Amy's birthday tomorrow and when I saw this in the convenience store the other day, I just couldn't leave it behind."

I nodded as I passed the locket back to her. "It's definitely worthy. She'll love it; I know I would."

"I'll make sure your there when she opens it." Andrea chuckled as she started to walk back towards the camp.

"I'll be looking forward to it." I said as I turned back to my post and began shooting arrows at the harmless tree aimlessly.

I took a swig of the beer I had in my hands to wash down the fish I had just taken a bite of.

"Man, oh man, that's good." I heard Shane comment from beside me.

I glanced at him and smiled - he returned the smile. We hadn't had this good of a meal in weeks and to just to be able to savor the taste of fish was very refreshing.

"I gotta ask you man. It's been driving me crazy." Morales spoke after a few seconds of silence.

Dale looked up. "What?"

"That watch," Dale glanced at his watch, smiling.

"What's wrong with my watch?"

"I see you everyday - same time - winding that thing like a village priest saying 'mass'."

I nodded in agreement, referring to my reliable memory.

"I've wondered this myself." Jacqui interjected.

"I'm missing the point." Dale responded.

I picked at the fish on my plate with a fork."Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end."

"Or at least hit a speed bump for a good, long while." Jacqui added.

"But there's you, everyday, winding that stupid watch." Morales smiled as did Dale.

"Time is important to keep track, init it? The days at least. Don't you think Andrea? Help me out here."

I knew he had asked her the question as a way of referring to Amy's birthday. I chuckled slightly and she sent me a glare as a way to tell me to shut up. She shrugged as she took a sip of her beer, a smile evident on her face.

"I like what father said to son when he gave him a watch It had been handed down generations. Said, 'I give you, mausoleum - of all hope and desire - which will fit your individual needs better than it did mine. I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." Dale finished with a wave of his hands. I nodded my head in satisfaction at his answer.

Amy shook her head. "You are so weird."

Everyone laughed at her comment.

"Where you going?" Andrea asked as Amy got up from her seat by the fire a few moments later.

"I have to pee. Geez, you try to discreet around here." She mumbled, earning a laugh from everyone.

I began picking at the fish on my plate, eating the last bite of it.

I don't think my brain could really process what happened next because before I knew it, Amy was screaming bloody murder as a walker took a chunk out of her arm. As more walkers emerged, more screams were heard as all the mothers began herding all their children with them and the rest were trying to either protect themselves or the group. I immediately began shooting as many walkers as I could with my arrows, my target practice showing to be benefiting. I heard Amy scream louder and I looked over, seeing another walker take a bite out of her neck.

I ran over to her spot next to the RV and angrily swung my bow at the walker - it's head swiping clean off. I reluctantly left Amy's side, wanting so bad to comfort her and Andrea - who now was by her side - but I had to keep killing as many walkers as I could. I ran over to Shane's side, aiding him in protecting Lori and Carl while I protected Carol and Sophia. Shane began shooting walkers rapidly with his shotgun as I shot arrows at walkers head's faster than I had ever had. Suddenly, more shots were fired and Rick, Glenn, Jeremy, Daryl, and T-Dog appeared from behind the bushes; aiding in the assault. It sounded like a modern warfare with all the shouting and shooting and crying. I was starting to feel overwhelmed, my anxiety rating probably racing to the top. After what seemed like a lifetime, the shots diminished but the cries were the exact opposite. I witnessed Carl run up to Rick in tears as he hugged him tightly. I looked around rapidly, craning my neck in every direction before I finally found Jeremy. I ran up to him and hugged him furiously, my face in shock.

I didn't blink and instead decided to ignore the stinging pain in my eyes in fear of crying as I stared at the ground, wishing to erase the events I had just seen.

.


	8. Chapter 8

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I stared at the dead bodies in front of me. I didn't sleep last night, in fear of an another attack, probably like mostly everyone else. I wish none of this would've happened. I wish the walkers hadn't attacked, I wish Rick and them wouldn't have left, and I wish Amy was still alive. I slowly looked over to where Amy's body was, spotting Andrea still in the same position since last night. A wave of sympathy went through me; what if I was in that position? What if it was Jeremy's body lying there instead of Amy's?

"Hey!" A rough, redneck voice yelled, breaking me from my thoughts.

I looked over to Daryl with a raised eyebrow. "Don't jus' stand there with ya' arms crossed. We got work to do." He commanded as he sent a pickax through a walker's head.

"Don't bark orders at me, Daryl. You know better than that." I muttered, glaring into the back of his head.

He hit the walker's head with the pickax a couple more times before looking up at me, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"I know better than that?" He repeated in disbelief. "What'd you think I'm some dog or somethin'?"

"Hey," I turned around slowly to see Jeremy standing behind me with an irritated look on his face. "We don't need you guys bickering. Right now, we've got things to take care off."

I scoffed in irritation and walked off into the direction of the group while Daryl walked off as well, I presume, to take care of more bodies.

"She still won't move?" I asked to no one in particular. Andrea had stayed by Amy's side like a faithful trooper all night and hasn't moved since. I was getting worried; worried that Amy might come back sooner or later and Andrea would have to watch her dead, younger sister as a lifeless zombie.

Lori shook her head. "Won't even talk to us. She's been there all night. What do we do?"

"Can't just leave Amy like that." Shane admitted, his voice sincere. "We need to deal with it...same as the others."

I nodded my head in agreement but I don't think anything would get Andrea away from Amy. Andrea is stubborn and she loved Amy with all her heart. I had feeling Andrea would be with 'Amy' until the end.

"I'll tell her how it is." Rick stated and began walking towards Amy and Andrea's direction.

"Rick, don't-" I tried to stop him but he was out of earshot by the time I spoke up.

Rick walked up to her side and said something briefly to which she responded with a cocked and loaded gun.

"I know how the safety works." I heard her say as she kept her gun pointed at Rick firmly.

Rick backed away slowly, his hands in defense and she equally put her gun down just as slow as Rick had walked back. I didn't blame Andrea. No matter what, that was her sister even if she was dead. If I was in her place, I wouldn't leave Jeremy's side if it were the end of the world - no pun intended.

I could see Daryl heading over to us from the corner of my eye and I internally groaned, not wanting to hear him even speak right now.

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."

I clenched my teeth.

"It's Amy, not some dead girl. Don't talk about her that way."

Daryl was acting like an asshole, calling Amy 'The dead girl'.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asked, getting in-between Daryl and I to avoid an argument.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"Shut up, Daryl. Lord knows you have a loud voice; no doubt she can hear you from here." I hissed, looking back to Andrea's unmoving position.

"Cheyenne's right. Just let her be." Lori sighed, agreeing with me. It wasn't very common for Lori and I to agree so her speaking out like that was much of a surprise to me.

I looked from Shane to Rick with an unknowing look in my eyes. Although it was Amy, she was still bit and would eventually come back from her 'slumber'. Daryl scoffed as he walked away, surprised with the way we were acting. In Daryl's eyes, Amy was to what he referred earlier as a time bomb. In a way, Daryl was only trying to protect the group...in a rude, malevolent, and selfish way. I shook my head in distraught. All these things were rapidly coming to me, the fact that half of our group is dead and the fact that we're going to have to go out on the rode and look for a new place to settle.

"A walker bit Jim!" I heard Jacqui yell.

I quickly looked up, curious to see if Jim actually had gotten bit. Everyone began walking towards Jim and circling around him as a sort of boxing match. I, on the other hand, stood quietly behind Shane with my arms crossed, barely looking up from the ground. I didn't want to another one of our group die. I was done seeing death for the day and more didn't need to come.

"Show it to us." Daryl commanded, the pickax still in his grip. Jim picked up a shovel from the ground as a way to protect himself before T-Dog got him from behind and pulled his hands back. While Jim was unable to move, Daryl quickly moved to him side and lifted up his shirt; revealing a bite.

I sighed, knowing what I was dreading the most was real. Another one of our group was bit and probably wouldn't survive. I wasn't very close to Jim but the brief times I had talked with him were nice just like his company. T-Dog released Jim from his grip and walked backward to the circle the group were in much like Daryl.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim repeated, as a way of reassuring himself.

-

Daryl scoffed. "I say we put a pickax in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it."

I bit my tongue this time, fighting the chance to be able to yell obscenities at Daryl.

"Is that what you'd want if that were you?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, and I'd thank ya while ya did it."

"It was a rhetorical question, dumbass." I commented, no longer being able to keep quiet.

"Cheyenne," Shane looked at me with a pointed look in his eye. "Don't start."

I scoffed and grinned a bit in a more sarcastic way.

"I hate to say it. I never thought I would...but maybe Daryl's right."

I looked at confusion and worry. "How can you say that? Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog."

"I'm not suggesting-"

"He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick interjected, not letting Dale finish his sentence.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers - or them to be." Daryl said.

"What if we can get him help?" Rick suggested. I looked up at him with curious eyes. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

Shane sighed. "Heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What is the CDC is still running?"

"Then you're not thinking clear enough. If you think there's still a government out there protecting that place well then you're wrong. Those sons of a bitches left the moment they heard what was going down. Sure, the military stayed for a while but we all know how that turned out." I snapped, fed up with all this talk about the world now and Jim's situation.

"Look, our best shot would be at a military base; Fort Benning." Shane spoke.

"That's 100 miles in the other direction." Lori said.

"But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen, if that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'll be safe there."

Rick shook his head. "The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance."

I looked over at Daryl and saw him glancing back at Jim with a menacing look in his eye.

"You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Somebody needs to have some balls and take care of this damn problem!" Daryl shouted, lifting his pickax in the air; ready to strike Jim before Rick pointed his gun at Daryl's head.

"We don't kill the living." Rick hissed, his eyes firmly placed on the back of Daryl's head.

Daryl stopped in his tracks, knowing a gun would do more damage than any ol' pointy object.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl muttered, angrily glaring at Rick. Shane ordered Daryl to put down the pickax and he threw it on the floor harshly, angry he was defeated.

-

I looked over to where Andrea was, still in the same position. I walked over slowly to where she was and I saw her reach for her gun but once she realized it was only me, she relaxed and continued to stare at her deceased sister.

"I just came to pay my respects." I said, kneeling on my knees on the ground.

She kept her hand on the back of Amy's head and looked at her, sadness washing over her face. After a few moments, she let go of Amy's head gently and reached into her pocket and revealed a square shaped paper with an object inside. I quickly realized what it was.

"Today's her birthday." I stated grimly, my voice cracking a bit.

"Her birthday was always like a week long affair. But I always somehow missed it. I was away at college or too busy for kid's parties. She'd call all excited. I always said that I'd make it home and I really always meant to but I never made it past that phone call."

"I know things are hard enough for you; without adding guilt into the mix, Andrea."

She looked at me with a ghost of a smile, to hurt to actually smile but not to emotionless to feel. She unwrapped the necklace from it's red packaging and carefully hooked it around Amy's neck. I got from my spot, realizing this was a private moment for Andrea and Amy as family. I walked over to a patio chair by the camp and I sat down with my hands in my head - my thoughts only including Amy. I heard growling a few seconds later and I knew it had to Amy. I lifted my face from my hands and stared on, sympathy waving through me. I looked over at Jeremy by the fire and felt a twinge of pain, feeling guilty that my brother was still alive while Andrea was over there, suffering over the fact that her sister was dead and is now a walker.

"I'm here now, Amy. I'm here now." Walker Amy continued to grip Andrea's hair, her thirst for blood and flesh growing.

"I love you." Andrea cried as she said those last words before shooting Amy in the head, ending her sufferment. Andrea continued to caress Amy's _now _dead body.

I felt a tear run down my face but I quickly wiped it away before anyone could see.


	9. Chapter 9

"Cheyenne, can I talk to you for a moment?" Dale asked, interrupting my arrow sharpening. "I hate to interrupt..."

I smiled at him kindly. "No, it's fine. Uh, what is it?"

Dale shifted on his feet nervously. "It's about Shane."

I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what could possibly be wrong with Shane. "What about him?"

"I know he's your uncle and I don't know; maybe I saw this wrong but...when Shane and Rick went out in the woods, I went to go check on them. And when I got there, I saw Shane pointing his riffle in Rick's direction." He sighed.

I exhaled deeply and looked up at Dale. I don't think Shane would be capable of killing Rick. Rick is his best friend and Shane would do anything for him - including taking care of Rick's family.

"He looked...distressed and angry."

"I'll keep that mind Dale." I smiled wearily and began to sharpen my wooden arrows again. Dale must have got the message that I wanted to be alone and I soon heard his footsteps crunch under the fallen leaves; which meant he had left. Once he was out of sight, I threw the arrow I was working on on the ground harshly; starting to feel frustrated with Shane's actions. I didn't know what was wrong with him but I had a feeling it had to do with his 'on-going' relationship with Lori when they thought Rick was dead. If Shane continues to act this way, I know it's gonna end badly for him.

-

"We're not going."

I chuckled without amusement at the sudden, lucky streak we were having - note the sarcasm.

"We have family in Birmingham. We wanna be with our people." Miranda stated, hugging her daughter closely.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane warned.

Morales shook his head. "We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Shane asked, not giving much effort into changing their minds.

If they wanted to risk themselves and possibly get themselves killed, then they could go right ahead. But who says our chances are any better?

Morales nodded. "We talked about it. We're sure."

"All right." Rick agreed after a few seconds.

Shane and Rick gave Morales a gun and some spare ammo to which Daryl scoffed. I didn't agree with Daryl but I didn't necessarily disagree with him. I wasn't very close to Morales or his family and they were good people but on the other hand, it was pretty ridiculous how they were just leaving. Most of the group said their goodbye's and they packed into their own car and wouldn't be following us to the CDC.

-

"It's what he says he wants." Rick grumbled as we talked about Jim's situation.

He wanted to be dropped off here, in the middle of nowhere, to turn and be with his family. He didn't and probably couldn't make it to the CDC. Who even knows if we'll make it to the CDC or if anyone else will _actually_ be there?

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you and Cheyenne shut me down, you both misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants." Dale reasoned. "And I think we have an answer."

I looked to Lori and Carol as grim expressions sketched onto their faces. I, for one, felt extremely bad. I'm a very hard person to figure out and my emotions aren't easily seen but from the look on Jeremy and Shane's faces, I could tell they knew I was distraught. Like I've mentioned before, I'm not very close to anyone in the group other than them and Andrea but now Amy's dead and Jim is close to dying. Could I think of a worse situation to be in? You know what, scratch that; I might've just jinxed myself.

Shane shook his head. "We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure if I could live with that."

"It's not your call, either one of you." Lori said.

"She's right. If Jim feels it's time then...so be it." I agreed.

-

Jim groaned as they set him on the dirt floor, leaning him against a tall tree.

"Hey, another damn tree." Jim joked light-halfheartedly.

Shane bent down to Jim's level. "Hey Jim, I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this way."

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice." He grunted, exhaling another breath.

Shane nodded and stepped back to give everyone room to say goodbye to Jim. Jacqui went up first, then Rick, Dale and so one. Everyone else had loaded into their cars and all that stood left was me.

"Hey Jim." I smiled wearily. "You sure about this? Why not just end it now?"

"I just don't want the easy way out. I want to go properly and not suicidal." He chuckled weakly.

I gave him a weak smile. "You and I both know we weren't the best of friends but I just want to thank you for everything you've done for this group from protecting us from walkers to assisting Dale with the RV. I'm not good with situations like these but...I really hope this ends well for you."

I knew physically speaking it wouldn't end well for him but he was going to be with his family again and that's all that really mattered.

"You're a good woman Cheyenne, thank you." He said, understanding my reference.

I shot a smile once more before getting to my feet and walking back up the hill to load the RV with Jeremy. The RV started as so did the rest of the cars, heading towards our original destination and leaving behind Jim.

I grimaced as I got out of the RV, the smell of dead bodies polluting the air. The others smelt it as well and we're also grimacing. I felt a presence beside me and slightly smiled, despite our situation, once I knew it was Jeremy. A whole lot had just happened the last day or so and I'm still trying to recover from it - probably just like everyone else. I hadn't talked to Andrea in a while and I was getting worried. On the outside she seemed fine but I know on the inside, she was hurting real bad. I looked at my surroundings and spotted multiple dead walkers and flies swarming them. I tried taking small breathes to avoid breathing in all that stuff. Some of the group began coughing at the strong, horrible scent the dead walkers were radiating. I held up Maya by my chest protectively, prepared to defend the group in a dire situation. Rick instructed to walk and stay quiet since it was almost nightfall and this is the time when the city gets real bad.

We walked through the path of dead walkers and the stench became immediately ten times worse. I put my hand to my nose to try and cover up the smell as best as I could. My leather jacket had 3/4 sleeves so that wouldn't be good use for me. When we got to the entrance, the doors were protectively covered by strong, metal shutters. Shane and Rick began banging on them to try and get the attention of anyone who was inside there.

T-Dog shook his head. "There's nobody here."

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asked.

"Walkers!" Daryl yelled, bringing everyone to attention. Daryl and I shot a walker each since we were the only ones with the quietest weapons.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl shouted at Rick.

"He made a call." Jeremy yelled slightly less louder.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl shouted loudly again.

He began walking towards Rick angrily before Shane pushed him away roughly telling him repeatedly to shut up.

Shane shook his head. "Rick, this is a dead end."

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol exclaimed worriedly.

"She's right. We can't be here this close to the city after dark." Lori panicked.

I sighed angrily as another one of Rick's plans failed. Everything just seemed to have been going wrong these last couple of days. But what can you expect from a world like this?

"Fort Benning - Rick - it's still an option." Shane suggested with a worried look on his face.

Andrea sighed. "On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles."

"125. I checked the map." Glenn added.

Lori rolled her eyes. "Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now."

"We'll think of something." Rick reassured her but his tone of voice said otherwise.

After a few seconds, everyone agreed that it was time to go. We were getting nowhere just standing here and the clocks were ticking. Shane instructed everyone to go back to the cars before Rick spoke. "The camera-it moved."

"You imagined it." Said Dale.

"It moved." Rick walked closer to the small, built-in white camera perched above the shutters.

"It's an automatic device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding you down. Now c'mon."

Shane began to pull Rick away from the door but he escaped his grip and began pounding on the doors once again.I stood beside Glenn, watching out for anymore walkers to fire on if they got too close.

"You're killing us!" I heard Rick yell from behind me.

Everyone was panicking and shouting by now as the commotion level went up. Shane finally pulled Rick away from the doors and Lori had now joined her son's side after trying to get her husband to his senses. But moments later, a bright, white light illuminated from the opening doors; the gas hissing after not being open for so long.

We all stood there in shock; someone had finally decided to open the door for us, literally.


	10. Chapter 10

"Anybody infected?" A man asked, his cocked gun pointed directly at us. We all held up our weapons in defense just in case he changed his mind and decided to fire on us.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick answered.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked.

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man replied, walking towards slightly.

"I know." Rick answered. I looked at Rick and could see the worried look on his face as did the rest of the group. Everyone was panicking to know whether or not this random stranger would actually take us in. He looked to all of us and could see the grim expressions on our faces; I hoped this would convince him to take us in.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nodded. "We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Shane, Glenn, Daryl, and Rick were the ones who went to go get, what's leftover, from the RV before returning quickly. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The man said into a device plastered on the wall. The rattles and clangs of the metal shutters were loud as they shut once more, keeping us safe from anything getting in.

"Rick Grimes." Rick introduced.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner."  
-

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Dr. Jenner commanded. We all walked through the doors and into the huge room; the lights hummed as they turned on, their bulbs shining bright light. "Welcome to zone five." The room looked quite empty and very spacious, the middle taking up the most room.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked, noticing Jenner was the only person in the room who wasn't in our group. "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it. It's just me here." He replied grimly.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked curiously.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome."

"Hello, guests. Welcome." A robotic voice repeated.

I sighed, realizing that Jenner _was _really the only doctor left here. "I'm all that's left." Jenner confirmed our thoughts. "I'm sorry." He apologized, noticing the disappointed expressions on our faces. There really was no hope anymore. The world would just stay like this..._forever.  
-_  
"Okay, you're the last one." Dr. Jenner smiled at me. Everyone had left the room by now except for my brother and I gulped, nervously walking to the table where he sat with the supplies. It was an insignificant fear - needles - with everything going in this world but I had developed it before hand at the age of 3.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine." Jeremy reassured me, having knowledge of extensive fear.

"Scared of needles?" Dr. Jenner guessed as he swabbed my arm with an alcohol pad. I nodded numbly. "Don't worry, It'll be over before you know it." I closed my eyes and held my breath as I felt the needle seep into my skin. I held in my fear and instead just slightly winced. "See. All done." He smiled, setting the blood filled needle down.

"Thanks." I mumbled, rolling my 3/4 inch leather sleeves down. I got up a bit too fast and felt a little bit of vertigo, nausea and dizziness running through my body. Jeremy helped steady me as I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"You okay?" Dr. Jenner asked, sensing something wrong.

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." Jeremy answered for me.

Jenner paused for a moment and had a thoughtful look on his face before speaking.

"I can help with that."

"You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner and in France." Dale said as he handed Lori another glass of the burgundy colored wine. We all sat around the table, eating the food Jenner had sent down for us. I sat next to Glenn on the counter as the table laughed on. It seemed as though the world hadn't gone to shit and we were all just a bunch of friends, eating dinner together.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori stated, taking a sip of the wine.

"What's it gonna hurt? C'mon." Rick urged, seeing no trouble in giving Carl a little sip. Lori looked at him and hesitated a moment before laughing herself. Dale handed Carl a plastic glass filled with a little amount of wine. He took a quick sip and the rest of the table sat quietly, waiting for his reaction.

He made a sour face. "Eww."

The adults laughed at his reaction since I'm pretty sure 99.9% of kids all that same reaction when tasting alcohol for the first time. "That's my boy." Lori said, patting his head.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane laughed.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl warned, witnessing Glenn examining a wine bottle.

"What?" Glenn smiled, looking up from the glass bottle.

"Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl said.

I laughed as did the rest of the men; it had to do with the fact that he was Asian. I punched Glenn's shoulder playfully as I took another swig of the bottle of wine in my hands.

Rick got up from his seat, holding his glass in the air. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is than just our host." T-Dog added. We all held up our glasses, or in my case my bottle, up in agreement.

"So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked after the whole group had quieted down. "All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now." Rick chimed.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move; supposed to find all the answers. Instead we found him. Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left - went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Jenner explained.

"Every last one?"

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." Jenner said. The whole table was silent now, the mood turning to it's opposite again. The moment's beforehand would just be a figment of our imagination in a couple days and reality would finally start to kick in. The fact was, the world was gone and it wouldn't go back to the way it was; people had died and they would never return, like Jim.

"Dude, your such a buzzkill, man." Glenn complained to Shane.

-  
"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here." Jenner said as we walked down the long corridor. "The couches are comfortable but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that requires power. The same applies - if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He walked down the corridor, probably to his own room and left us alone.

"Hot water?" Glenn smiled in shock.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog chuckled

Everyone ran excitedly to their rooms, happy they didn't have to feel scared anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

_"Baby, listen to me. There is no reason to feel afraid. I'm here and your brother's here. We'll always protect you no matter what."  
"But dad-"  
"No buts. Look, we all know what has to be done and I plan on finishing this."  
"I know dad."  
"Both of you, I want you to realize something. I need you to be strong and brave. This new world ain't meant for pussies. You'll need to do things that may not be right but I want you to survive as long as you can. I __need__ you to survive as long as you can. Just until you meet back with your Uncle Shane. Now you guys stay quiet and hidden no matter what you see or hear. I love you both. And be safe." _

I shot up from my bed and banged my head against the headboard from the top bunk where Jeremy was sleeping. I cursed as I rubbed my forehead, knowing it cause a nice bruise later on. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I looked at the digital clock beside me which read 12:32 a.m. I kicked my feet over the bed and placed them on the cold, hardwood floor. I tugged at my black, long sleeve shirt as my bare feet padded on the floor. I couldn't sleep anymore - not after the dream I had had. So, I decided to maybe get a drink of water or something to calm my nerves. I began walking through the hallway when I bumped into someone. "Hey, watch wher' ya goin'!" A voice scolded me. It was Daryl and his words were slurred; his breathe smelled heavily of alcohol and I could tell he was drunk.

"You okay, Daryl?" I asked, his features seeming a bit distressed.

"Course I'm fine. Now jus' leave me be." He slurred, pushing past me. I didn't push the subject further, knowing never to agitate a drunk person. When I reached the sink, I grabbed a cup that lay beside me and turned on the faucet, the water pouring out slowly at first then faster as the the pipes groaned. I filled it up halfway and drunk it in one sip. I heard rattling from behind and turned around to see Shane groan as he sat in a chair at the table, hiding his face between both of his hands. "Shane?"

He flinched at the sudden sound of my voice and he slowly lifted his head out his hands and sent me a forced smile. "Hey Cheyenne."

"What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same question." He chuckled.

"What happened to your neck?" I asked worriedly, seeing three scratches that ran down his neck.

"Oh, uh, I-I had this real bad itch on my neck...and I must've scratched a bit too hard." He explained. I wasn't fooled by his tall-tale. I always could figure out when people were lying, especially Shane since he was such a bad liar. "You're lying. I could tell. What really happened?"

"Nothing Cheyenne. Sheesh, you're just like John - always trying to get to the bottom of things."

"Well I would think so. He was my father."

"Now Cheyenne I know you wanna take it there but please, for my sake, just don't. I don't wanna have to deal with another woman."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Another woman? Shane, did Lori do that to you?"

Shane groaned. "C'mon now. Can we just drop it?"

"She did, didn't she? Shane what did you do to her?"

"You taking her side now?" Shane asked in disbelief.

"I'm not taking any sides. All I know is that you both have been having problems and she wouldn't do that to you if hadn't done something first."

He slammed his hands on the table making me flinch. "You know, what I'm done with this conversation." He stalked away angrily and I could hear him cursing under his breathe. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, intending to find out later what Shane was up to. I was sick and tired of Lori and Shane's soap-opera drama and I really wanted to get to the bottom of it. I knew it really wasn't any of my business but I was a curious to see what was beneath the layers of their relationship. I walked back to my room after a few moments and was greeted by a now woken up Jeremy. "Hey."

"Jer, what are you doing up?"

"Dammit woman, I'm 25. Do I have still have a bed time?"

"Hey Jer, do you remember the night dad died?" He stood quiet for a moment and hesitated to answer.

"Yeah. Why?" Jeremy asked, his voice dry.

"Do you think he's in a better place now?"

"Chey, you know I don't believe in heaven."

"But he doesn't have to worry anymore, Jer. He doesn't have to be scared anymore or feel any pain or-"

"Cheyenne, just go to sleep already. That alcohol's probably having an effect on you."

"But-"

"Go to sleep." He said sternly, turning over in his bed so his back would face me. I sighed, giving up and crawling into bed - trying to get as much sleep as could.

We all walked into the lab, Jenner preparing to show us something. "Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner commanded Vi. The big screen began to show blue images which loaded onto the screen. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

I could see Lori, Rick, and Shane join us through the corner of my eye. "Is that a brain?" Carl asked, seeing the diagram of a head on the screen.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end." Dr. Jenner replied. "Take us in for the EIV."

"Enhanced Internal View." Vi repeated, focusing the diagram into the actual brain.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"It's a persons life. Experiences, memories, it's everything. Somewhere inside all that organic wiring, all those ripples of life, is you - the thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl scoffed. "You don't make sense ever?"

"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all of the messages. They determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death. "

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick chimed in.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected...and volunteered to have us record the process." Jenner replied. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

It scanned to a new image, the brain seeming less alive than it used to be. The middle of the brain was no longer bright blue but rather a dead burgundy color.

"What is that?" Jeremy asked with wide eyes.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shut down, then the major organs. Then death." The brain on the screen was no longer illuminated with any blue but was dead with no lights.

"Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia piped in.

"Yes." Carol answered. I could see Andrea was more in distress than the rest of us since that is exactly what happened Amy not too long ago.

"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister." Lori informed Dr. Jenner.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." He told Andrea. She looked up at him but didn't say anything. "Scan to the second event."

"The resurrection time range widely. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute...seven seconds." The screen now showed the brain still dead but the difference now is the red light embering in the middle of the brain.

"It restarts the brain?" I asked curiously.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

Rick stepped in. "But they're not alive?"

"You tell me."

Rick shook his head. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobes, the neocortex, the human part - that doesn't come back. It's just a shell driven by mindless instinct." Dr. Jenner answered. There was a sudden movement in the brain of the patient.

"God, what was that?" Carol asked.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea answered.


	12. Chapter 12

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked after watching the simulation. He had explained pretty much everything to us except for how the infection started and it didn't look like he knew the answer. Dr. Jenner stood silent for a moment before answering.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui added.

"There's is that." Jenner agreed.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea stated, her tone of voice desperate, desperate for answers.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Jeremy questioned.

Jenner looked to Jeremy. "There may be some. People like me."

Rick stepped in. "But you don't know? How can you not know?"

"Everything went down. Communications, directives - all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner explained.

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing?" Andrea realized. "That's what you're really saying, right?"

Jenner's silence was the only answer we needed. Andrea scoffed in disappointment and surprisement, realizing that nothing was left. No other facilities, no other people trying to figure this out, nothing. The world would most likely stay like this forever. "Jesus." I mumbled, running my hand through my hair.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again." Daryl sighed, the new-found information sinking into him as well.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but...that clock - it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked.

"The basement generators - they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick questioned worriedly. Dr. Jenner didn't answer but instead ignored Rick's question and kept walking towards his destination. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

-

"Something wrong, Jer?" I asked as he waved his hand over the air vent.

"Nah, it's just the air conditioning - it stopped." He muttered.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "You think something's wrong then?"

He turned to look at me. "Don't you?"

The lights suddenly turned off in our room and we both went out into the hallway, meeting with everyone else who had the same situations.

"Why is the air off?" I heard Lori ask.

"And the lights in our room?" Carol added.

"What's going on? Why's everything turning off?" He leaned against the door frame with a bottle of wine in his hands which Jenner took out of his hands.

"Energy use is being prioritized."

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale questioned. We all began to follow Jenner down the hallway.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down." Dr. Jenner answered, taking a swig from the wine bottle.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Daryl yelled to Jenner but he just ignored and kept walking until Daryl caught up to him. "Hey man, I'm talkin' to you. What do ya mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anythin?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked as he met with Jenner down the stairs.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark." He stopped in front of the circle lab where the computers were at and handed the bottle of wine to Daryl to swiped it out of his hands roughly. "It was the French."

Andrea furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." Jenner shrugged his shoulders. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" He walked back to his computers but Shane wasn't gonna let him go without an earful. "Let me tell you-"

"To hell with it Shane. I don't even care." Rick said as he grabbed Shane by the shoulder. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We are getting out of here now!"

Everyone began running/walking to the gates and go back to our rooms to get our things but an alarm sounded, stopping us in our tracks. "What the hell is that?"

"Thirty seconds to decontamination." The robotic voice sounded. A countdown from thirty started on the plasma monitor.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Shane commanded after seeing everyone standing there and waiting for the explanation Jenner clearly wasn't going to give. But before we could make it to the doors, they shut closed.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn panicked. "He just locked us in!"

"You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!" Daryl exclaimed, stalking towards Dr. Jenner. Daryl couldn't get his hands on him though since T-Dog and Shane held him back. Jenner just straightened his jacket and sighed.

"Jenner, open that door now." Rick commanded.

Jenner shook his head. "There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well open the damn things." Dale said sternly.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked exasperatedly. "What happens in 28 minutes?!"

"Do you know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized small pox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" He yelled as we stayed quiet, some surprised by his sudden outburst, some actually letting his words sink in, and others were just too angry to say anything. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure - in a terrorist attack, for example - HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"HIT's?"

"Vi, define."

"HIT's - high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5000 and 6000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage the structures is desired." I could see Lori hugging Rick and Carl while Carol and Sophia cried together.

"It sets the air on fire. No pain." Jenner mumbled. "An end to sorrow, grief...regret. Everything."


	13. Chapter 13

"Open the damn door!" Daryl shouted after throwing a wine bottle. Dr. Jenner seemed remotely calm with the situation as he just glanced at Shane and Daryl who were now banging on the doors with axes, which probably weren't gonna do any good anyways. I could hear Carol, Carl, and Sophia sobbing next to me but I refused to look over towards them as it would just make me cry.

"You should've just left well enough alone. It would've been so much easier." Jenner said, referring to the distraught children and whoever else would be affected by this.

"Easier for who?" Lori retorted.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short, brutal life and an agonizing death." By this time, Rick and Jeremy had come back from trying to open the metal doors and I went to go stand next to them; feeling the comfort of my brother.

"Your - your sister - what was her name?" Jenner asked Andrea.

"Amy."

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it." Jenner then turned to Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"

"I don't want this." Rick answered emphatically.

"What about you two? Is that what you really want for your sister?" Jenner asked Jeremy.

Jeremy's eyes narrowed. "Hey look man, stop filling our heads with shit. I made a promise to keep my sister alive as long as possible and I'm keeping to it."

"Can't make a dent." Shane chimed in as he leaned over one of the tables, heavily breathing from all the straining he had done trying to open the doors.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher."

"Well your head ain't!" Daryl shouted as he ran up to Jenner with an axe. Fortunately for Jenner, Rick and the others held Daryl back from doing something that could effect all of our lives.

"You _do _want this." Jenner said, looking towards Rick. "Last night, you said, you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

Shane shook his head. "What? You really said that? After all your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick retorted.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner scoffed.

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere-"

"What part of 'everything's gone' do you not understand?" Andrea snapped.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Jenner said calmly before sitting back down in his chair.

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here. My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol sobbed.

"One tiny moment - a millisecond. No pain. Besides, wouldn't it be kinder and more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" The sound of a gun cocking erupted in the room and I turned around to see Shane holding his riffle.

"Shane!" Rick yelled, trying to get in Shane's way but Shane just shoved Rick out of the way and pointed the riffle at Dr. Jenner's head.

"Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Shane threatened.

"We will never get out of here if you do this." Rick reminded Shane sternly.

"Shane, you listen to him." Lori agreed, backing up Rick's statement.

"If he dies - we all die Shane!" Rick shouted over Shane's frustrated yell. He took it out on the computers instead, firing round after round. Jeremy and I both ducked, being closest to the computers, to avoid getting hit with any glass or even worse - a bullet. Rick yelled out Shane's name as he struggled to break Shane's grip from his riffle. He shot one of the lights one last time before Rick ripped the riffle out of his grip and elbowed him in the face. "Are you done now? Are you done?"

"Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane replied sarcastically as he lay on the ground. Rick handed T-Dog the riffle and silence prevailed through the room, our heaving breathing was the only sound.

"I think you're lying." Rick spoke after a few seconds of silence.

Jenner turned to look at Rick. "What?"

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You choose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter." Jenner answered.

Rick shook his head. "It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise...to her. My wife." Jenner said as he pointed at the screen we were looking at earlier today.

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked in disbelief.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could." Jenner shrugged. "How could I say no? She was dying." Daryl began pounding on the door with an axe again but no one payed attention as we were enthralled with what Jenner was saying.

"It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place; I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just...Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me." Jenner finished solemnly.

Rick sighed. "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's - that's all we want - a choice, a chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori begged meekly.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." Jenner walked back over to his desk and punched in some numbers on a remote before the doors opened again.

"Let's go! C'mon let's go!" Glenn shouted as he ran to the doors, the rest of us following behind.

"C'mon Cheyenne!" Jeremy said as he grabbed my arm and ran with me to the doors.

"Hey, we got four more minutes! C'mon!" Glenn shouted after everyone everyone waited for Rick to get back.

"Jer-"

"Cheyenne, there's no time to talk right now."

I shook my head and broke the grip he had on my arm. "I'm staying, Jer."

Jeremy's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Cheyenne, that is crazy talk. Now you come with us right now." Shane ordered as he appeared in front of me. "Now I made a promise to keep you alive and Jeremy did too and were gonna keep that promise."

I sighed. "Shane, Jer, think about dad for a moment. He's in a better place right now."

"Is that why you asked about dad last night?" Jeremy asked grimly and Shane had a confused look on his face.

"You asked about John last night?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's not the point. He's in a better place now. He doesn't have to feel scared anymore and he won't have to feel pain ever again. Now if you guys wanna stay, be my guest, but if you wanna go...don't let me stop you."

Jeremy had an incredulous look on his face and Shane groaned as he ran a hand over his face.

"I'm staying." Jacqui said as she pulled away from T-Dog. He tried to convince her to go with the group but she refused and said her goodbyes before walking over to where Jenner stood.

"I'm staying too." Andrea added.

"Andrea, no." Dale disagreed. He began walking towards her, I presume to try and convince her to go with the group.

"There's no point in arguing so just go." I said as I took a step back. "Both of you." My voice was starting to crack and I could feel the tears stinging my eyes so I turned my back to them to hide my tears.

"I'll handle this." I heard Daryl say his footsteps coming closer. "Just go! Go!" He shouted towards the rest of the group that still remained.

"No you don't need to-" Jeremy started before Shane interrupted him.

"C'mon man. Daryl will handle this." I had turned around in the nick of time to see Shane dragging Jeremy by the arm and running after the rest of the group who were already ahead.

"What are you still doing here Daryl?" A tear had already fallen from my eyes although my voice had recovered a bit.

"Look, if your own damn family can't get into your stubborn ass head then I will cause I ain't gonna sugar coat it." Daryl grabbed a hold of my arm and looked into my eyes. His piercing blue eyes started back at my dull brown ones and I felt a bit intimidated by them and felt the urge to look away but I couldn't. It's like they had me under some spell. "You're thinkin' really stupid right now. What your doin' is being a quitter and selfish and I know you ain't none of those things. So ya to suck up your fears and get over it cause ain't no one here to hold your hand anymore. If ya stay here and pretty much commit suicide, yeah, it'll be over for ya but think about your brother and that cop with a stick up his ass you call Uncle. Sure, the pain and sorrow might end for you but not for them, especially ya brother. I should know." His eyes suddenly got sad and he finally broke the stare he had with me, probably thinking about his own brother who he would most likely never see again. "So what are ya gonna do? Stay er' and be a quitter or leave and live like a fighter and go down fightin'?"

I looked to the ground. His words had a really big impact on me. I guess I had finally learned the definition of 'tough love'. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed before answering. "You're right. I'm being extremely selfish right now and I'm leaving my brother in his time of need."

"So you're not stayin'?"

I nodded my head, making my decision final. "I guess not."

"C'mon then. We gotta run." He grabbed my hand and we both sprinted down the hallway until we reached a set of metal steps. I heard footsteps behind me and as I turned, I could see Dale and Andrea running behind us as well. We ran up the steps and down into the lobby where a broken window was. Everyone was already in the their cars as we all exited out the small window and ran across the lawn; around all the dead bodies that lay there. We had almost reached the RV before Rick started honking the horn.

"Cheyenne, Dale, get down! Get down!" Lori shouted as she stuck her head out of the window.

"Get down!" Daryl shouted as we all four lay down behind a stacked pile of sacks. Daryl covered my head with his arms before a huge explosion erupted and the building that used to be the CDC was gone, thrown into piles of debris. Everything was gone now, even Dr. Jenner and Jacqui.

"C'mon." Daryl stook out his hand to me and helped me up after the explosion had died down. Andrea and Dale went into the RV as Daryl and I loaded into his truck. Shane and Jeremy were in the Jeep behind us but I didn't have time to talk to them as we had to get out of here as soon as possible. All that was shared was a small smile before we all rode off to a new destination in hopes to find something better than this.


	14. Chapter 14

"Bet they're barely hanging on. What makes you think they'll take in strangers?" I asked as I exited out of the RV, clutching my compound and a handgun in my hands tightly. After many failed attempts to find refugee; Glenn, Jeremy, and Rick had decided to try a nursing home where the people that stayed there had held up Glenn before. He assured us that they were good people but I had my doubts, at least until I saw them.

"With all them guns we gave em', they'll probably throw us a party." Daryl answered as we started to walk towards an entrance. "S' good call - for once." Daryl added, referring to what had happened at the CDC. Jeremy helped me jump out of one of the windows and as my black boots hit the brown gravel, I took in my surroundings.

"This place looks deserted." I muttered, only wanting Jeremy to hear me. There seemed to be no sign of defense or life anywhere. There were no guards or anything else visible except for the flies and various insects flying and crawling around. There was no sound either except for our footsteps and the sound of nature.

"Where are the lookouts?" Glenn asked Rick since this was new territory to the rest of us - except for T-Dog, Daryl, and Jeremy of course. As we headed around the corner, walkers came into view and they seemed to be feasting on something.

"Son of a bitch!" Shane muttered, trying not to grab too much attention from the walkers as they hadn't noticed us yet. As we got more into view, the scene became more explicit; mangled up bodies were strewn across the ground, a random walker on each one. Carol hid Sophia and Lori hid Carl from the horrific scene as it could have an effect on them - especially Sophia. One walker noticed us and then the rest and they began lifting themselves up, smelling the fresh meat that stood in front of them. Everyone who had a weapon stood pointed with their guns, waiting for Rick to make the first move.

"To hell with the noise." Rick said before taking the first shot, the rest of us not far behind. I shot three of them before the shooting stopped, everyone else taking out some for themselves.

I exhaled a deep breathe, realizing that the people in there - if any - were probably either dead or dying.

"C'mon!" Rick ordered, walking towards the building entrance. I sighed not really looking forward to find what was in there. I stepped over one of the dead walkers and walked into the building, my compound in stance. We walked through a barricaded door that look's like it had been kicked in and into a hallway. There in the door ways, more dead bodies lay and I could hear Sophia's quiet cries.

"Keep your voices down." Shane whispered, making sure nobody would cause any unwanted attention. I coughed slightly, the vile stench of _dead _hitting me rapidly. One of the rooms had a dead woman who layed against a, what used to be, white drawer that now was splattered with crimson blood. Another man also lay on the floor with a gun wound in his head, a pool of blood surrounding him. Sophia looked into the room and immediately began crying, her emotions taking over.

"Put a sock int'." Daryl whispered harshly towards Sophia.

"Leave her alone." Carol whispered back, hugging Sophia close to muffle her sobs a bit.

"You shut her up or I will." Daryl ordered, his voice raising slightly.

"Daryl, leave her the fuck alone. She's only a kid." I whispered just as harshly. He gave me a look but gave up, knowing he couldn't win an argument with me.

"Are we stayin' or are we goin'?" Lori asked, probably feeling worried where her child would sleep tonight.

"We don't have the fuel." Rick answered.

"We stay only tonight." Shane decided. "Rick, you, me, and Daryl are gonna sweep the bedrooms and make sure were alone."

Rick nodded and then turned to the rest of us. "You guys barricade those doors."

"C'mon." Jeremy whispered as he led us through the door on the left to pick up anything we could find. Andrea and I slid a mattress in front of the door that lay against the wall, starting the stack. After about two minutes, we had all gathered enough things to to barricade the door when a walker threw itself against the door and broke a window that we hadn't yet barricaded. We all ducked down behind the door and I turned to see Carl holding a crying Sophia's hand. He caught my eye and I gave a reassuring smile which he slightly returned. The walker began walking around the door, trying to spot any food it could. We stood as silent as we could and it eventually left when it didn't notice us. We all ran down the hallway to meet Rick, Daryl, and Shane in what used to be the rec. room where more bodies lay.

"Upstairs is our best bet. We cleared a few rooms that we can barricade if we have to. We'll be alright." Rick informed us.

"You mean it this time or are you lying to us like all the times before?" Carol asked meekly in fear not for herself - mostly - but more for her daughter.

"That's unfair and no help at all." Lori defended Rick.

"What the hell happened?" Glenn asked, his eyes in a gaze.

"What'd you think? They got over run." Andrea answered. Daryl scoffed at her statement which made her look at him. "Something to say?"

"Yeah, how bout' observant?"

"Observant? Big word for a guy like you. Three whole syllables." Andrea said sarcastically.

"Walkers didn't do this. Geeks didn't show up until all this went down. Somebody attacked this place. Killed all these people and took whatever they wanted." Daryl explained.

"He's right. They're all shot in the head - execution style." I said, noticing one of the very people in this room with a gun shot in their head and also looking back on the man I saw on the floor earlier.

"Y'all worried bout' walkers? I'd be much more worried bout' the people who did this." Daryl admitted. "Go read a dictionary, look it up. _Observant._" He said sarcastically to Andrea who just stood their silently and walked out of the room.

-

I sat with my chin rested on my knees next to Jeremy as Shane and Rick went to go salvage any food they could.

"I'm sorry." I whispered quietly to Jeremy.

"What?" Jeremy asked softly.

"I'm sorry for what happened back at the CDC. I wasn't thinking clearly and I probably put you through hell and-"

"You're rambling." Jeremy smirked, interrupting me.

I chuckled, realizing he didn't really want an apology. "Look, I get it. You thought there was no other option. Believe me, I've thought that a million times. So there's no reason to be sorry. I understand."

I smiled weakly at my brother, his personality hadn't changed thought everything.

I smirked. "You're still that forgiving loser I always teased."

"And you're still that stubborn pain-in-ass I always argued with." He said playfully, ruffling my hair.

"Stop it man. I'm older than you - I'm supposed to be doing that."

"C'mon, you know I was always the mature one."

"No you weren't."

"Yes, I was."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"_No, _you weren't."

"_Yes, _I was."

"We ran sacked the kitchen. All we found was a can." Shane said, interrupting Jeremy and I's bickering, returning with Rick and throwing the can to Daryl.

"They hit the dispensary too; took the door off it's hinges. All they left was this," Rick announced, handing Lori a small box.

"So we came back for cough drops and..." Daryl checked the label on the can. "Garbanzo beans." Daryl shook his head as he began opening the can with the only rusty can opener we had.

"Is there any water?" Sophia asked.

"Just the one bottle I brought," Shane replied, taking a half-full water bottle out of his bag. "Just a few sips, okay hun? Gotta make it last. We gotta make for everyone, okay?" Shane said as he handed Carol the water bottle.

"What else you got in there?" Andrea asked Shane. Shane grabbed a bag of chips from his bag and waved them in the air.

"Salty snacks." Glenn said, noticing the bag.

"Courtesy of the CDC." He handed Lori, Carol, Dale, and myself a bag of chips which I planned to share with Jeremy. Glenn began pouring the beans evenly on the paper plates as Shane grabbed more things from his bag, the last item a bottle of wine.

"Would you like to share?" Daryl asked, his mouth full of the beans.

"Seeing how I owe you my life - guess - guess I'm gonna be nice to you from now on." Shane admitted as he handed Daryl the wine bottle.

"Well I do deserve the first swig." Daryl began taking the cork off with his knife.

"I'd go easy on that stuff. Let's not forget where we are." I reminded, a drunk person not really fitting good in a situation like this.

"Yes ma'm." Daryl answered and went back to taking off the cork.

"You know, before all this shit happened, I would always watch what I ate; now I would literally kill anything in my path just for a double cheeseburger, a large set of fries, and a chocolate milkshake." I said to Jeremy, gazing at the plate in front of me that only held a small amount of cold beans and a bag of generic_ Ruffles_.

"Amen to that." Lori muttered, obviously hearing my comment. I looked up at her and smiled, which she returned.

Dale walked over to Andrea who sat in the corner by herself with a plate of beans and a bag of chips. He offered her the plate, which she took, and placed the chips beside her.

"You alright?" Dale asked.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm spending the night in a building that stinks so badly of rotten bodies I wanna vomit out my guts, I'm dining on condiments, and I'm hoping I don't get eaten by dead, cannibal freaks before dawn. What's not to like?" Andrea finished sarcastically. "Thank you Dale." She added but with a bit more meaning behind it. He sighed and got up before walking out the room, probably to give T-Dog his food.

"What's next?" Lori asked Rick who stood beside the window. "We need to decide."

Rick looked to Shane who had the same doubting look on his face. The fact is, after the CDC, we had no plan or idea on where to go next. We didn't think what happened at the CDC would _actually _happen, so we got a little side-tracked.

"Fort Benning, Rick?" Shane suggested. Rick nodded seeing as we didn't really have any other choice.

"Fort Benning." Lori confirmed.

Rick shook his head. "I should've listened to you, Shane. It would've saved us a lot of grieve if I had. Jacqui would still be alive."

"That was her choice, man. Do not take that on." Shane argued.

"It was her choice. It was her decision to make, not yours. No more than it was with Jim." Lori agreed.

"All these people; who would've done something like this? Just...come in here and murder everybody. Even all the old people...how sick is that?" Glenn asked in disbelief.

"Is this something we need to be discussing right now?" Lori asked more rhetorically as to end the conversation.

"How bout' we get some sleep, huh?" Shane said, trying to change the subject. Shane nodded to Jeremy and he got up, following Glenn, Rick, and Daryl out the door probably to figure out what we were going to do in the morning.

"You think we'll find somewhere safe to stay, Cheyenne?" Carl asked me after a few moments of silence.

I looked to him and sent him a small smile. "I really hope so, kid."


End file.
